LinkedIn changed the way people navigate the world of work. It's hard to even remember the days (though not that long ago) when jobseekers opened the back of a newspaper to scan the help wanted ads. Well, LinkedIn was the brainchild of Reid Hoffman, one of the Silicon Valley visionaries who recognized, back in the 1990's, the internet's potential for a new kind of social and professional networking. In this episode he talks about how his background in philosophy led him to tech entrepreneurship....
Feb 27, 2017•27 min•Ep. 44
Meet two giants of the American theater: playwright August Wilson and director Lloyd Richards. Together they brought many award-winning plays to Broadway, including "Fences," "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom," and "The Piano Lesson." August Wilson, who wrote ten plays (together known as the Century Cycle), started out as a poet. When he turned to writing plays, intent on telling the stories of African-Americans on stage, it was Lloyd Richards who recognized his talent and helped him shape it. Richards ...
Feb 13, 2017•41 min•Ep. 43
Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, and Pepé Le Pew were all brought to life in the hands of Chuck Jones. If there's a Loony Tunes or a Merrie Melodies cartoon that you carry in your heart, Jones was probably behind it. (What's Opera Doc, anyone?) He was artist, animator and director of 300 cartoons, in a career that spanned from the 1930's to the 1990's. Among the many awards he received was an Oscar for Lifetime Achievement. In this episode he talks about the influence of Mark Twain, the origin of Daffy's...
Jan 30, 2017•41 min•Ep. 42
As a girl in England, Jane Goodall dreamed of traveling to Africa to study animals in the wild. In 1960, that dream brought her to Tanzania, to observe the wild chimpanzees at Gombe Stream Park. As she describes in this episode, other scientists did not believe that a young woman could survive alone in the bush, but Jane Goodall did more than survive. Her work revolutionized the field of primatology. She was the first to document chimpanzees making and using tools, an activity that had been thou...
Jan 16, 2017•35 min•Ep. 41
Maya Angelou was a civil rights activist and a friend of Martin Luther King Jr., years before she became known throughout the world for her memoir “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings." In this, the second of two Maya Angelou podcasts, she offers personal reflections of Dr. King as a poet and as a man with great humility (and humor). She talks about the state of the African-American community decades later, and the importance of using language to uplift (describing an encounter she had with Tupac Sh...
Jan 02, 2017•33 min•Ep. 40
Maya Angelou took the harshest experiences in her life and turned them into words of triumph, justice and hope. Her memoirs and her poems told of her survival, and uplifted people around the world. Her first book, "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings," is a classic of American literature. Her voice and the rhythm of her speech were absolutely unique. In this episode you'll hear that iconic voice, in interviews, speeches and conversations, and be reminded why she was one of the most inspiring figures...
Dec 19, 2016•34 min•Ep. 39
Albie Sachs awoke one day in 1988 in a Mozambican hospital, with no remembrance of the car bomb that had maimed his body. But it hadn't broken his will to remain in the struggle to end Apartheid in South Africa. This episode is drawn from Sachs's 3-hour conversation with the Academy of Achievement. He tells stories, with love and with humor, about joining the movement as a young white teenager in the 1950's, about his detentions in solitary confinement, about helping to write his nation's new co...
Dec 05, 2016•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 38
When Thomas Keller was a dishwasher, he learned all the basic lessons he'd need to become one of America's greatest chefs and restaurateurs. Keller owns The French Laundry and Per Se, two of the only restaurants in America to carry three Michelin stars. Along the way he learned other important lessons, of course, and each one left him a great story to tell. As we enter this food-frenzy of a holiday season, take a listen to Thomas Keller's bumpy and glorious ride to the pinnacle of his profession...
Nov 21, 2016•50 min•Ep. 37
When Doris Kearns Goodwin was six years old, she used to carefully document the Brooklyn Dodgers' games. And that, she says, eventually led her to the career she now has, as one of America's favorite historians and political commentators. Goodwin's books are so engaging, because they focus on the very human side of her subjects: Lincoln, Kennedy, Johnson, Taft and Roosevelt (Franklin, Eleanor AND Teddy). In this episode, she talks about her unusual approach. She also tells amazing stories about ...
Nov 07, 2016•30 min•Ep. 36
If you can name one living architect, it's probably Frank Gehry. Gehry has designed some of the world's most recognizable and beloved buildings... buildings that are surprising and playful, like the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao and the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles. In this episode, Gehry talks about what compelled him to put the art back in architecture. He explains his obsession with fish and motion and curvilinear forms. And he remembers the professor who told him he'd never make it ...
Oct 24, 2016•44 min•Ep. 35
One of America's greatest living novelists begins every book by writing the the last sentence first. In this episode, John Irving, author of The World According to Garp, A Prayer for Owen Meany, and The Cider House Rules, explains why. And he might just convince you that his uncommon approach is the only one that makes sense! Irving also opens up about his early life, and reveals how his mysteriously absent father, his learning disability, and his passion for wrestling all contributed to his suc...
Oct 10, 2016•28 min•Ep. 34
In this episode, you'll hear Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg tell the very personal story of her lifelong pursuit of justice and equality for women. Her tale includes trips to the library with her mother, a sixty year romance with Marty Ginsburg, her struggles to become a lawyer in a field inhospitable to women, her surprising friendship with Justice Antonin Scalia, and even her days as an aspiring baton twirler! The interview was conducted by NPR's Nina Totenberg, and explores some of...
Sep 26, 2016•57 min•Ep. 33
Wynton Marsalis has been THE preeminent name in jazz for the past 30 years. The Louisiana-born trumpeter set out to bring jazz back from the brink of neglect, to its rightful place - as one of the pillars of American culture, history & art - and he has succeeded. He's just as accomplished as a classical musician, a composer and an educator. In this episode you'll hear Marsalis as a young man, still in his 20's, full of the fire and the talent that has carried him throughout his career. (c ) ...
Sep 12, 2016•38 min•Ep. 32
One of the greatest revolutions in the treatment of cancer is underway. It's called immunotherapy, and the revolutionary behind it is Dr. Steven Rosenberg. Dr. Rosenberg has been the Chief of Surgery at the National Institute of Cancer for over four decades. During all that time he has doggedly pursued this radical idea -- that a patient's immune system could be sparked or retrained to attack cancer cells. It's an idea that was dismissed by most of the medical establishment, until patients with ...
Aug 29, 2016•29 min•Ep. 31
In the midst of this political season… here’s a chance to hear two former U.S. Presidents hold forth on their lives in public service. Bill Clinton spoke to hundreds of graduate students from 50 nations at the 44th annual International Achievement Summit in Chicago. George H.W. Bush did the same, 9 years earlier at the Academy of Achievement's program in 1995 at Colonial Williamsburg. In this episode we present those inspiring and entertaining talks, unedited and unfettered. (c ) American Academ...
Aug 15, 2016•47 min•Ep. 30
When Englishman Roger Bannister was studying medicine at Oxford in the 1940's, he began to have great success as a member of the track team. He knew enough about physiology to question a long-held belief: that humans were simply not built to run a mile in less than four minutes. He was determined to shatter that myth, and he did. In this episode, Bannister describes how he developed his own unique approach to training, one that allowed him to very gradually improve speed, while leaving time for ...
Aug 01, 2016•34 min•Ep. 29
After World War II, when few survivors of the Holocaust were willing or able to describe what they’d been through, Elie Wiesel decided silence was not an option. Even if words could never adequately express the horrors, the world had to know what had happened. He wrote “Night,” and became the best-known witness to the Nazi atrocities, as well as winner of the Nobel Peace Prize. In this episode Elie Wiesel (who died on July 2, 2016) explores how it was possible for him to find hope after Auschwit...
Jul 18, 2016•29 min•Ep. 28
While listening to this episode, we dare you to NOT sing out loud. Carole King and Hal David were each one half of a legendary songwriting duo, and each responsible for many of the greatest songs of the 1960’s and 70’s (too many to start mentioning here, but we packed as many as we could into the podcast). If you like a medley, you’re in the right place. Carole King worked with (and was married to) Gerry Goffin. Hal David worked with Burt Bacharach. They all worked in New York City’s Brill Build...
Jul 04, 2016•37 min•Ep. 27
There is only one surviving superstar from the Golden Age of Hollywood: Olivia de Havilland. The actress who portrayed Melanie Hamilton in "Gone With The Wind" (and admit it: you liked Melanie better than Scarlett, right?) turns 100 years old on July 1, 2016. This episode features an extensive conversation with Ms. de Havilland about the early days of the American film industry. She explains how the studio system confined her to the role of the ingenue, and how she eventually broke out of it to ...
Jun 20, 2016•45 min•Ep. 26
Steven Spielberg hired Janusz Kaminski as the cinematographer for "Schindler's List” twenty-five years ago, and they have worked together, hand-in-glove, ever since. Their collaboration has produced "Saving Private Ryan," "Bridge of Spies," "Lincoln," and many others. In this episode, both filmmakers tell how they fell in love with the movies, and learned to make them. Spielberg talks about his first camera and trusting his instincts, and Kaminski talks about how growing up in 1970's Poland gave...
Jun 06, 2016•50 min•Ep. 25
Quincy Jones’s fingerprints are all over America’s popular music. If you like Frank Sinatra, Ray Charles, Count Basie, Sarah Vaughan, Aretha Franklin, Michael Jackson, or hundreds of other artists, you have heard his work, whether as an instrumentalist, a composer, a conductor, an arranger or a producer. He’s also scored dozens of movies and television shows, and been a philanthropist and activist. It is hard to overstate the impact he has had over the past 70 years. But this prodigiously produc...
May 23, 2016•50 min•Ep. 24
How do you become a multi-billionaire, and the most successful hedge fund manager ever? Ray Dalio attributes his success to transcendental meditation and what he calls "radical honesty.” In this episode, he lays out the principles that have guided his life and his investment firm, Bridgewater Associates. He also talks about caddying for Richard Nixon as a child, his first investment at age 12, and how he managed to go from being a terrible high school student to a graduate of the Harvard Busines...
May 09, 2016•35 min•Ep. 23
The Innocence Project has freed 1000’s of people serving time in prison for crimes they did not commit. Thousands. People who were misidentified by eyewitnesses, or were manipulated into false confessions, or were the victims of unreliable forensic science. Barry Scheck is the co-founder of The Innocence Project, and in this episode he talks about the developments in science that led him and his colleagues to believe that DNA testing could reduce wrongful convictions and transform the criminal j...
Apr 25, 2016•40 min•Ep. 22
Whether you grew up watching The Carol Burnett Show, or your parents did, this comedian, actress, singer and writer is someone you want to get to know better. Burnett broke new ground when she launched her own television variety show in 1967 (hosting was still a man's game in those days). And she kept Americans laughing for the next 11 years. She had a huge influence on the comedians that followed in her footsteps, including Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Maya Rudolph, and Kristin Wiig. In this episode ...
Apr 11, 2016•43 min•Ep. 21
During March Madness, can you think of anything more satisfying to do between games than listen to an interview with legendary coach John Wooden?! Wooden led UCLA to more NCAA championships than any other team in history, and he did it with a quiet, old-fashioned approach that challenged notions of what it takes to win. Wooden talks about his fatherly love for the players, his famous pyramid of success, and the difference between reputation and character. He also explains why basketball is the g...
Mar 28, 2016•37 min•Ep. 20
In this episode, an intimate history of two pocket-sized devices that changed the world, and the two men who created them: Steve Jobs and Tony Fadell. Jobs famously co-founded Apple. In the late 90’s, when the company was failing, he hired a young engineer and designer named Fadell, who created a little device that became known as the iPod. It not only turned Apple’s fortunes around, it transformed the music industry and the experience of listening. Fadell’s next assignment was the iPhone, which...
Mar 14, 2016•1 hr•Ep. 19
Sidney Poitier changed America’s view of black men. And he changed Hollywood (though the change is far from over, given the issues of diversity at this year’s Oscars.). The star of “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner,” “The Defiant Ones,” and “In The Heat of the Night” was the first African-American to win an Academy Award - for “Lillies of the Field” in 1964. He was a leading man and box office sensation throughout the 1950’s and 60’s, portraying a huge array of characters with a dignity, courage and...
Feb 27, 2016•53 min•Ep. 18
Lauryn Hill has had an outsized impact on the world of hip-hop, soul and R&B. She entered the music world in the mid-1990’s as one third of the band The Fugees, and soon after released a solo album, “The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill”. It was a phenomenon, and swept the Grammys. But then Ms. Hill pretty much vanished from music and public life, in an internal battle between fame, family and faith. On this episode you’ll hear the incomparable and enigmatic Lauryn Hill, speaking in 2000, just as...
Feb 15, 2016•37 min•Ep. 17
Andrew Young has worn many hats: pastor, congressman, ambassador & mayor, but his first role in public service was as Martin Luther King Jr’s strategist and negotiator. He was at King’s side for many of the biggest battles of the civil rights movement, and he helped draft and secure the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. In this episode, Young shares his unique, personal stories about that turbulent period in our country’s history - from the center of the storm. He p...
Feb 01, 2016•45 min•Ep. 16
As Mrs. King says, she wasn’t just married to Martin Luther King Jr., she was married to the cause. Their partnership in life, in faith, and in the struggle for justice and human rights, changed the world. In this episode, Mrs. King describes her early aspirations in music, her courtship with Martin, her courage in the face of violence, and her discovery that a purposeful life is a happy life. After you listen to the episode, check out “The Road to Civil Rights,” an eBook from the Academy of Ach...
Jan 18, 2016•29 min•Ep. 15
